Agriculture Takes the Floor at 14th Annual World Biotechnology Congress
A postcard from the Biotechnology Industry Organization's 2006 conference in Chicago

If the Biotechnology Industry Organization's (BIO)¹ 2006 conference in Chicago was summed up in a postcard, it might look a lot like the photo above. Imagine the world's largest indoor corn field replete with a granary bin right off the farm, smack dab in the middle of biotechnology's biggest show. The 1/5 acre of biotech-improved, potted corn stalks along side the Green Kitchen's granary showcasing bioproduct consumer goods were the big buzz in the windy city this spring. Showing that it all starts with the seed, the Green Kitchen symbolized the convergence of biotechnology to improve food, feed, fibre and fuel production, while the corn field symbolized the growing support for agricultural biotechnology: 222 million acres planted by 8.5 million farmers worldwide.²

The Green Kitchen exhibit demonstrates corn-based carpet, fabric and cutlery — all products of polylactic acid technology that can make fibres by fermenting starches into sugars.³ Consumers will come to know these products through brand names of Ingeo⁴ carpet, Sorona⁵ fabric and Natureworks⁶ cutlery.

Many of the Green Kitchen products originate from Canadian entrepreneurs like Harry Funk, president of Avanti Polymers.⁷ His Manitoba-based company is now taking orders for a hemp countertop that is lightweight yet stain and scratch resistant. Vancouver native Jason Finnis, President of Hemptown Clothing, manufactures casual wear using bacterial enzyme technology licensed from Canada's National Research Council.⁸

In addition to highlighting Canadian innovation, one of the goals of the Green Kitchen exhibit is to explain that biotechnology plays many roles in today's foods and consumer products. Biotechnology is as simple as using enzymes to break down fibres or as complex as inserting a gene into crops for herbicide-tolerance or insect-resistance. In the end, it's all the same science allowing farmers to grow annually renewable crops with fewer sprays and less fuel. Some of those crops become food for people and feed for livestock, but increasingly, biotech seeds can also produce crops for fibre and fuel.

With $70/barrel oil, make no mistake that new and old companies alike are pursuing alternative agricultural-based fuels such as ethanol. Novozymes Inc.⁹ displayed an ethanol-powered race car opposite the Green Kitchen at BIO 2006.

The rising profile of agricultural biotechnology was a touchstone for many of the almost 20,000 visitors who attended BIO this year. No one more so than Portage la Prairie, Manitoba canola grower Jim Pallister, part of an international delegation of farmers sharing individual experiences about how biotech seed has transformed their farms. His group met with former US president Bill Clinton who gave a headliner speech about the role biotechnology could play in feeding and healing the world.¹⁰

"Agriculture is back," says Gijs van Rooijen, Chief Scientific Officer, Genome Alberta.¹¹ "Pharma side of biotechnology has tended to dominate the news in previous years, but there is a growing recognition now that agricultural biotechnology will play a key role to ensure a cleaner and sustainable environment, a message reinforced by former US President Bill Clinton during his speech."

"We're now seeing the full potential of the bio-based economy", says Rory Francis, Executive Director, Prince Edward Island BioAlliance.¹² "Improved food, feed, nutrition and pharma products, new energy and materials alternatives — these demonstrate the opportunity to reinvent the traditional Canadian commodity sectors of agriculture, aquaculture, forestry and mining, through the application of the new tools of biotechnology."

Fortunately, whether it's Chicago's BIO 2006, Calgary's Stampede or Toronto's Good Food Festival, the Green Kitchen is making it easier for the public to understand the dynamic, and often confusing, transformation taking place on the farm. And, in keeping with our Canadian heritage, the exhibit's unique setting acknowledges modern innovation while honouring traditional roots.

Experience the Green Kitchen to "taste and touch the future" — coming to your community:
April 28–30 Good Food Festival¹³, Toronto International Centre
May 26–28 Eat! Vancouver¹⁴, BC Place
July 20–30 Expo St. Hyacinthe¹⁵, St. Hyacinthe, Quebec
August 10–13 Agrifest¹⁶, Canning, Nova Scotia

The Green Kitchen is sponsored by the Council for Biotechnology Information and CanolaInfo.¹⁷

¹ Biotechnology Industry Organization

² International Society for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications

³ Notes from the Packaging Laboratory: Polylactic Acid, an exciting new packaging material

⁴ http://www.ingeofibers.com/ingeo/home.asp

⁵ http://www.dupont.com/sorona/faqs.html

⁶ http://www.natureworksllc.com/corporate/nw_pack_home.asp

⁷ http://www.avantipolymers.com/

⁸ Cover me with hemp

⁹ http://www.novozymes.com/cgi-bin/bvisapi.dll/press/press.jsp?id=34995&lang=en

¹⁰ Former President Bill Clinton's speech transcript, April 14, 2006

¹¹ http://www.genomealberta.ca/

¹² http://www.peibioalliance.com/

¹³ http://www.canolainfo.org/newsite/

¹⁴ http://www.goodfoodfestival.net/

¹⁵ http://www.eat-vancouver.com/

¹⁶ http://www.expo-agricole.com/

¹⁷ http://www.agrifest.com/